Bitburger
Bitburger Brewery is based in Bitburg, Germany and brews Bitburger 0.0 Premium Pils Non Alcoholic Beer. The brewery dates back to 1817 and brews according to the German Purity Law of 1516. The brewery owns several other breweries, including Konig, which brews Konig Premium Pils. They also have a collaboration with Sierra Nevada.
The Non Alcoholic Beer Market
The non alcoholic beer market has grown rapidly in recent years with the introduction of non alcoholic beers that taste more like regular beer. Non alcoholic beers have several health advantages over regular beers, including fewer calories, sugar, carbs and of course, alcohol. Non alcoholic means less than 0.5% alcohol, so non alcoholic beers can still have traces of alcohol.
Athletic Brewing is the current market leader in non alcoholic beers with an approximate 19% market share. More and more traditional breweries like Bitburger are entering the market. Not a day goes by without some news story about the rise of non alcoholic beer and societal trends towards reducing alcohol intake.
Bitburger 0.0 Premium Pils
Bitburger describes 0.0 Premum Pils as “This beer shows a resplendent straw-colored gold with stable, white foam. Sweet, roasty aromas coalesce with honey and fresh Gingerbread and are complemented by ripe grain and pleasantly bitter herbs. A delicate tingly fresh taste with lasting hops and notes of vermouth are finished with a bittersweet malty flavour for the full-flavoured taste…completely alcohol-free: naturally brewed following German Beer Purity laws,”
Bitburger 0.0 Premium Pils has a 0.0% ABV, 0g fat, 1.7g protein, 16.8 carbs and 72.6 calories based on a 11.2 oz. bottle. There is no reliable IBU information. It has an “Okay” rating on Beer Advocate.
Our Review of Bitburger 0.0 Premium Pils
I tried over 50 non alcoholic beers and got sick of them. A few were good, but many were not. They were weak, had a strange non alcoholic aftertaste, or just plain tasted bad. So I stopped trying new ones. I then turned my attention to traditional German beers, mainly lagers, pilsners, wheat beers and marzens. With the exception of Henninger, they ranged from very good to spectacular. Bitburger Premium Pils was a good one.
I was able to find a single Bitburger 0.0 Premium Pils and decided to try non alcoholic again. This is the first German NA beer I have tried. I wavered between rating this beer a 3 or a 4, and probably should give it a 3.5 rating. It has both good and bad points.
The Good
First the good. Bitburger 0.0 looks, smells and tastes like beer. I don’t know if I could tell it has no alcohol. It does not have that strange non-alcoholic beer aftertaste that many people talk about. It is also alcohol-free, not just non-alcoholic, which is important for those who cannot have any alcohol at all.
The Bad
Now the bad. It tastes like beer, but unfortunately it tastes like a lousy mass market beer. I opened the bottle, sniffed the beer and it brought me back to college days at a frat party. It is also not particularly low in calories and carbs. The 72.6 calories is only 25 calories less than Lagunitas Day Time IPA, which is far superior and 4% ABV. The 16.8 carbs is very high, more than most all non-alcoholic and regular beers.
So what’s the verdict? Would I drink it again? Yes with an asterisk. If I could not have any alcohol at all but wanted to drink a beer, I would give it another try. Otherwise no.
For better recommendations, try Wellbeing Hellraiser, Athletic Brewing Cerveza Atletica, Best Day Brewing Kolsch, Athletic Brewing Lite and FMB 101 Blonde.
For non alcoholic beer nutritional information for all NA beers we have reviewed and more, see NA Beer Nutritional Information.
